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Indigenous Livelihoods

Indigenous people throughout the Amazon region are trying to find ways to maintain the cultural practices and value systems that have sustained their way of life for centuries, despite unprecedented attempts by outsiders to extract natural resources from their homelands. Threats to their livelihood are also threats to the fragile, biologically diverse ecosystems of the region. ECCo works with our partners and local governments to ensure that science informs land conservation, and works with indigenous and forest-dwelling communities to find ways to sustain livelihoods compatible with conservation of natural resources.

In the buffer zone of the Cordillera Azul National Park, ECCo, with the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is working with long-time partner, CIMA-Cordillera Azul, to develop quality of life plans for Shipibo communities. The goal is for the Shipibo to set priorities for income generation and community improvements based on their own values.